Unnao is constituency No. 165 of Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly which comprises a total of 403 assembly constituencies. It is situated in Unnao district between the important cities of Lucknow and Kanpur.

Unnao is constituency No. 165 of Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly which comprises a total of 403 assembly constituencies. It is situated in Unnao district between the important cities of Lucknow and Kanpur. (Source: PTI)

The voting for second of the seven-phased Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh has come to an end with a 53 per cent voter turnaround. Polling in 67 constituencies of western UP took place today with as many as 720 candidates were in the fray. Voting held across 11 districts including Saharanpur, Bijnor, Moradabad, Sambhal, Rampur, Bareilly, Amroha, Pilibhit, Kheri, Shahjahanpur and Badaun. SP president and UP Chief Minster Akhilesh Yadav, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati had campaigned extensively for this phase. While the ruling SP is trying its best to retain position as the ruling party, PM Modi has asked the people of the state to give his party one chance to serve the state. SP had bagged 34 seats during the 2012 Assembly election. Accusing the central government for acting as a roadblock in UP’s development, the incumbent CM Akhilesh during his rallies had asked the BJP to tell the people what it did for the people of the country in the nearly three years that it has been in power at the Centre. The SP is largely banking upon development agenda with his ‘Kaam Bolta Hai’ campaign.

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Making it a high-octane three way contest, Mayawati has also been assertive with her back to back rallies in different parts of the state. During her rallies, the she had aggressively attacked both BJP and SP on the issues of development and demonetisation. BSP has claimed to regain power in the state with full majority.

Unnao is constituency No. 165 of Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly which comprises a total of 403 assembly constituencies. It is situated in Unnao district between the important cities of Lucknow and Kanpur. It is part of the Lok Sabha constituency that goes by the same name. It is an open constituency.

Number of voters
As per the Election Commission data, Unnao has 3,17,227 registered electorates. It comprises 1,76,633 male and 1,40,594 female registered voters.

What are the key issues
Electrification of nearby villages is one the key issue to be addressed in this region.

Who was the winner last time
SP defeated the BJP by a margin of 10,145 votes to win this seat during the 2012 Assembly polls. Deepak Kumar from SP bagged 61,695 votes followed by BJP candidate Pankaj Gupta who managed to get 51,550 votes. The voter turnout was 57.45 per cent.

Why this constituency is important?
Waves are good for the SP here as many people believe that CM Akhilesh Yadav has done good work during his tenure. A part of non-Yadav OBC chunk which the BJP is trying to tap, prefers either Akhilesh or the saffron party.